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Jump
Jump is a single British girl band, Girls Aloud covered which was originally released by 'The Pointer Sisters'. It was released by Girls Aloud to feature in the 2003 Romantic Comedy film, Love Actually. It featured on their second studio album, What Will The Neighbors Say?. Background and release The director of Love Actually, Richard Curtis, phoned Xenomania while they were in a taxi in Berlin to tell them he thought "Jump" would make a good Girls Aloud single. Girls Aloud's version of "Jump" was not featured in the film itself. Love Actually uses the Pointer Sisters' original version due to international audiences being unaware of Girls Aloud, who feature in the end credits. Girls Aloud do, however, appear on the British soundtrack. The fourth single would have been the album track "Some Kind of Miracle" had the soundtrack opportunity not arisen. Girls Aloud's version retains the 1980s feel of the original, using a Roland Jupiter-6 in the chorus. The single was released on 17 November 2003 in the UK. It was available on two different CD single formats and as a cassette tape. The first disc includes "Girls Allowed", a track from Girls Aloud's debut album Sound of the Underground, and a cover of "Grease" which was recorded for ITV1's Greasemania. The second CD format featured another track from Sound of the Underground, the Betty Boo-produced "Love Bomb", and the Almighty Vocal Mix of "Jump". Meanwhile, the cassette tape (and the European CD) feature the single and the Almighty Vocal Mix of "Girls Allowed". Flip & Fill's remix of "Jump" appeared on CD1 of Girls Aloud's next single, "The Show", and the original Almighty Remix of "Jump" appeared on the "Long Hot Summer" 12" picture disc. According to Cheryl Cole in Girls Aloud's 2008 autobiography Dreams That Glitter - Our Story, the single "was the point when we realized everything we'd been doing was quite down and moody and that's not what people wanted." Nicola Roberts further stated it "was meant to be. It was a turning point and everyone loved it." Reception 'Critical Performance' "Jump" received generally negative reviews from contemporary music critics. It was said that "the girls sound bored singing it and the listener is certainly fed up by the time the song finishes." Alexis Petridis of The Guardian exclaimed, "Xenomania throw everything they have at the track, but can't rescue a duff song." The track was slated by Lisa Verrico of The Times, who said it "takes whatever credibility Aloud had left and runs off with it. Horrible bass, klutzy production and so-so singing put the girls at the bottom of the pop pile". RTE.ie said that "fans of the group will love it, but the rest of us will just wonder why, particularly since the original is so much better." On the other hand, David Hooper of BBC Music complimented the track in his review of Girls Aloud's second album: "Twenty years on, this version updates the song nicely with a welcome return of those buzzy synth sounds and gnarly bass noises from "The Show". Good work." 'Chart Performance' The song debuted at number two on the UK Singles Chart, behind Westlife's cover of Barry Manilow's "Mandy". Coincidentally, both bands were managed by Louis Walsh at the time. "Jump" fell just two places the following week. The single spent four more weeks in the top twenty before falling. Overall, the song managed to spend a total of fourteen weeks in the top 75. It was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry. On the Irish Singles Chart, "Jump" entered at number two behind "Mandy" and spent an impressive three consecutive weeks at its peak. In its fourth week on the Irish chart, "Jump" slipped just two positions to number four. It spent two more weeks in the top ten at numbers seven and nine respectively, before rising up the chart again to spend two weeks at number six. "Jump" spent a final week in the Irish top ten before falling down the chart. "Jump" is one of the few Girls Aloud songs that received an international release outside of the United Kingdom and Ireland, reaching the top ten in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Music Video The music video for "Jump", directed by Katie Bell, was made to appear as if it was intertwined with the film Love Actually. During the video, the members of Girls Aloud sneak into the residence of the Prime Minister, played by Hugh Grant in the film. The group sneaks into 10 Downing Street through a bedroom window before tiptoeing down a set of stairs and looking around an empty, unlit conference room. Girls Aloud eventually re-exit through the window. Various shots of the women singing and dancing, like those featured on the single's artwork, are shown throughout the video. A Grant lookalike was also hired for the music video. A version of the music video without scenes from Love Actually can be found on Girls Aloud's 2005 DVD release Girls on Film. The video also appears on 2007's Style. Live Performances "Jump" was promoted through various live appearances on television shows across the UK. Girls Aloud appeared on programmes like CD:UK, GMTV, Popworld, The Rolf Harris Show, Top of the Pops, Top of the Pops Saturday (twice), UK Top 40: CBBC Viewers' Vote, and Xchange. They also performed at events such as the UK's National Music Awards and 2003's Children in Need telethon. In Europe, Girls Aloud performed "Jump" on the Netherlands' national lottery Staatsloterij (The State Lottery). During the summer of 2004, Girls Aloud performed the show at a number of festivals and open-air concerts, such as Live & Loud, O2 in the Park, Pop Beach, and CBBC's Junior Great North Run charity concert. Girls Aloud also performed it on their MTV special in October 2004, as seen on the subsequent DVD Girls on Film. In 2006, the group performed "Jump" for a television show entitled All Time Greatest Movie Songs. Since its release, "Jump" has been included on each of Girls Aloud's tours in some capacity. The track was included as the penultimate song on their 2005 tour What Will the Neighbours Say? Live. Performed amidst neon lights, the song's arrangement was closer to the Pointer Sisters' original version. For 2006's Chemistry Tour, "Jump" was included as the encore. The performance included a dance breakdown over a military drum. As the song reached its climax, pyrotechnics went off and confetti fell. There is a final explosion as Girls Aloud descend beneath the stage. It was included in the first section of 2007's The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits Tour. The song was included as the penultimate song again for 2008's Tangled Up Tour. The performance included an extended intro in which Girls Aloud commanded the crowd to jump. The song was slightly remixed for this tour. For 2009's Out of Control Tour, "Jump" was included in a greatest hits medley which closed the show. The single has also been performed at Girls Aloud's appearances at V Festival in 2006 and 2008. They also performed it at Twickenham Stadium in 2006 after a rugby match between the England national rugby union team and New Zealand's. Category:Singles Category:What Will The Neighbours Say Category:The Sound Of Girls Aloud Category:Ten Category:Cover songs